Detroit center replaces name of ex-mayor with racist past

on: August 28, 2019

Detroit center replaces name of ex-mayor with racist past

Detroit center replaces name of ex-mayor with racist past

The home of Detroit’s annual auto show and other major events has officially changed its name to the TCF Center and moved on from its original name, which honored a former mayor known for racist and segregationist policies, officials announced Tuesday.

Officials said the Cobo Center name is no more, making good on the February announcement of a $33 million naming rights deal with Chemical Bank, which is now a division of TCF Bank.

The name change will save taxpayers millions of dollars, move the riverfront facility toward being financially self-sustaining by 2024 and provide money for major capital projects, they said. It had been owned and operated by the city until 2009, when the Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority was created.

The move also purges a negative aspect of Detroit’s history: Albert Cobo, who served as mayor from 1950 to 1957, sought to keep blacks out of predominantly white neighborhoods. The convention center opened on the Detroit River waterfront in 1960, three years after Cobo died.